Quietus Décor
by RhodesEighteen
Summary: Wyatt Halliwell is 22 and his mother has at last deemed him worthy to wield Excalibur. Problems arise when a spell he casts goes awry and another Wyatt pops into existence, although he calls himself Arthur. Slash and femslash pairings are in the story.
1. Prologue

_**Quietus Décor**_

**By Rhodes18**

**My first attempt at a piece of writing here at Fanfiction and I've decided to bite the bullet and dive right into the good stuff. Crossovers are always such fun to write and the one's that are written well are always an amazing read. As such, I hope you enjoy.**

**Summary – Wyatt is 22 and his mother has at last deemed him worthy to wield Excalibur. Problems arise as a spell goes awry and another Wyatt pops into existence, although **_**this Wyatt **_**calls himself Arthur.**

**Pairings – Wyatt/Arthur x Merlin, Prudence/Morgana x Gwen, Piper x Leo, Phoebe x Coop, Paige x Henry, Chris x Bianca, more may come later.**

* * *

**Prologue**

Somewhere in the cavernous mess of corridors, caves and caverns that made up the Underworld, deep down beneath the Earth's crust, was one particular cavern that contained a powerful evil.

The cavern itself was only one room but the area that it covered was quite large, set out in a circular shape. Directly in the centre was a large cauldron, clearly put there for the sole reason of being the first thing all those who entered saw. Nearly every available space surrounding the cauldron was taken by furniture that had been placed up against the walls; tables and shelves, and even one large cupboard, had been placed around the room, all of them holding some kind of magical item. Be they potion ingredients (body parts of animals, creatures, and what appeared to be human, were the main sort of ingredients that could be seen, followed by different herbs and plants), and books, each containing magical knowledge; like potion recipes, spell books, and information on every species, those magical and those not.

However, while the torches etched deep shadows onto the walls, and the stone that made the walls had been smoothed down so it managed to resemble normal walls; no exit could be seen. There was no doorway that would enable someone, or more probable, something, to leave the room. But more than that, words and patterns were engraved _in_ the walls, glowing softly, managing to shine brightly, even in the dim light the torches brought. Spells had been cast deep into the wall in order to make the soul occupant remain captive inside.

The inhabitant of the room was a woman, beautiful by human standards, which meant that many mortals and good creatures would be enchanted by her luminescent beauty. Indeed, so were many evil creatures as well. She had a number of paramours in the dank Underworld, willing to do all that she asked of them; ranging from some of the highest level demons all the way down to those considered the lowest of the low. So although she could not leave her prison, she was not as trapped as others thought because other beings were free to come and go as they pleased, and they would agree to bring her, or do for her, whatever she wanted in order to please her.

She stood tall and proud before the large pot and her features, which were practically perfect as well as enthralling, were pulled back in a sneer and her eyes were cold and hard as she gazed upon the book she had placed on the small table beside the cauldron. It contained a black liquid, thick and oozing silently beneath her careful ministrations. It gurgled as she slowly stirred the contents of the pot, and it boiled slowly due to a magical heat, as apart from the torches that hung on the walls in metal brackets, no other fire or warmth was in the room. She watched with an expectant stare, as the liquid began to bubble, releasing an odour of rotting flesh in the air as they began to burst.

This was apparently supposed to happen, for she pulled the spoon out, leant over the rim and breathed the smell in deeply. Pulling back, her eyes gleamed with triumph as she added the last of the long and thin, white fingers that had lay on a plate beside the book.

The reaction was instantaneous, as grey smoke billowed up due to the small explosion that had occurred inside the cauldron, a large fire suddenly burst into existence in the cave. However although the flame appeared at the same time as the explosion, it had nothing to do with the potion she was brewing and everything to do with the figure that stood on the ground that the flames had licked just seconds before.

It was taller than any mortal man could possibly grow, almost touching the height of eight feet. It was unnaturally pale, wrinkled white skin pulled over a gaunt face. The eyes had sunk deep into their sockets and no hair was on its face, whether it be on the top of the head, the chin or even above the mouth. None of these were what you noticed first though, these were the things you noticed later, after glancing twice at the thing that towered over the entire room. It was the grin that you noticed first; the disturbed smile that nearly stretched from ear to ear and sat grotesquely near the bottom of its face.

Despite the intimidation this creature could naturally cause, the woman's face quickly smoothed out and she looked up at it in a way that could be seen as warm, her eyes had turned from hard and unfeeling to glittering sapphires, as welcoming as the sea.

"Ah, Mikhail." Her tongue wrapped around the letters of his name, drawing the word out in an imitation of affection. "You took so long coming back this time, I was getting...worried." She paused long enough to make her concern seem genuine, and then ploughed into the more important things. "Did you get what I needed?" Instead of answering, its fingers reached into the pocket of its leather jacket and withdrew a box covered in white paper, whatever it was that the box contained, it was leaking through, and as such some of the paper was covered in thick red stains.

Gasping with delight she carefully took the package from the figure and turned sharply to place it on the table. She put it gently on the now empty plate that had contained the previous ingredient. Spending just enough time to smile at the demon, she soon turned her attention back to the _present_ she had been brought. "You're just in time." She unwrapped the paper with deft fingers and focused on the leaking box that lay beneath. "I had just placed the eight spider demon fingers into the cauldron, and you appeared with my next ingredient." Smiling a wicked smile she pulled the contents out of the box with her now red fingers, "An Elder's heart." Seeming to ignore her earlier gentleness, she threw the heart into the boiling black liquid, which suddenly turned white. No explosion, no noise, no waiting; one moment it was black, the next it was white.

Smiling in apparent joy, she slammed the book shut and turned to the other being in the cavern. "I only need one more ingredient, one last thing. You will do me this one last favour won't you?" Taking the fact that the demon hadn't immediately flamed back out as an answer, she moved towards the large ornate cupboard and opened it. Her smile widened as it moved closer towards her and the cupboard.

"Now the book says that the last ingredient is demons blood. It doesn't specify which kind, so it shouldn't matter which kind we choose. In fact I have the perfect one in mind." Unknown to the other, instead of a crystal or a map that could lead them to the nearest demon in their vicinity, she had taken hold of a particularly sharp and jagged dagger.

"I was going to ask you to get a very high level demon, but I'm afraid that after all these years trapped in this room, I have grown incredibly impatient. So I guess you will have to do." Before the demon could react, she swung with the dagger hard, as well as fatally.

At this moment, it didn't matter that no sounds could ever escape the cavern, because even in the most grievous pain, the demon's screams were silent.

* * *

**~Theme music begins here~**

**That's the Prologue, I hope to get Chapter One up by next Saturday. Wish me luck because I've never worked on a schedule before, but hopefully I'll be back next Saturday.**

**Rhodes18**


	2. Chapter 1

_**Quietus Décor**_

**By Rhodes18**

**It's finally done. I could blame my mum, the fact I got my A Level Results (Got into Uni, woo!) and the consequences of partying hard as reason for the lateness of this chapter, but the truth is this was around double the size of my Prologue and I miscalculated the amount of time I thought I could get it done, but hey here it is. Ta-da!**

**Please enjoy.**

**Summary – Wyatt is 22 and his mother has at last deemed his worthy to wield Excalibur. Problems arise as a spell goes awry and another Wyatt pops into existence, although **_**he**_** calls himself Arthur.**

**I forgot to add the disclaimer last time so if you can't guess; I don't own Charmed or Merlin, I wish I did but I haven't noticed a shooting star yet.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**An Ordinary Day for Extraordinary People**

14th March 2025

07:15

As soon as Wyatt Halliwell had finished orbing into the Halliwell Manor, the smell of bacon hit him like battering ram. Mouth watering at the amazing scent, he allowed his feet to lead him to the kitchen. Most of his family was already in there; his mother was placing bacon and eggs on five plates while his father read the Bay Mirror, Chris sat hunched up at the end of the table, a glass of orange juice sat beside his brother, half empty. He was scribbling away frantically on a pad of paper, and during the brief few moments Chris looked up and met his gaze when he was reaching for his glass, Wyatt grinned at the sheepish look on his brother's face.

Wyatt watched in delight as Chris hurriedly tried to complete homework he'd apparently forgotten to do until now and Piper Halliwell noticed her eldest was now in the kitchen. "Wyatt," she smiled at her tall son, putting two of the plates on the table. Turning back to her son, she pulled him into a quick but loving hug, before taking another plate, Wyatt wordlessly picking up the last two. "You're early for once." She stated, watching Wyatt while at the same time grabbing the papers Chris had scattered across the table with her free hand.

Leo didn't look up from the article he was reading, but the other three in the kitchen could hear his light laughter behind the newspaper. "Wyatt could probably smell your breakfast all the way across San Francisco, it smells so good."

Frowning, Piper ignored her husband in favour of the papers in her hand and turned her attention to her younger son, "I think it's a bit late to begin this now when its due in today, don't you?" Chris had the decency to blush at the fact his mother knew him so well.

"Well, you know ... there was that demon ... and then I had a date; it _was_ our ten month anniversary, and ... well -" A look from his mother stopped any more feeble excuses pouring from his mouth.

Chuckling, Wyatt sat down in front of a plate almost overflowing with breakfast foods. His father was chuckling again too. Folding up the newspaper, he placed it beside him and inhaled deeply at the smell of his breakfast. Grabbing the knife and fork either side of his place, he eagerly cut into a thick, juicy sausage. "All I know is that when I was a whitelighter, sometimes I swore that I could smell your pancakes all the way Up There."

"I wondered why you always came around during meal times." Smirking at her husband, she slapped at the hand that was holding the fork towards his mouth, causing Leo to drop his fork, and consequently the piece of sausage he was about to bite into. "Not yet," she said simply, "Wyatt may be early but we're still waiting on our daughter." Sighing with frustration, she put the collected papers by the microwave and moved to the kitchen door.

"PRUDENCE MELINDA HALLIWELL, YOUR BREAKFAST WILL GET COLD!"

Wyatt swore that he could see the glasses shake in the cabinets; as Piper moved back into the kitchen to sit at her place, he could hear his sister's voice reply, although he couldn't make out the words. She had either said, 'I'm coming' or 'Jim Cummings". Evidence pointed to the former however as they soon heard her feet on the stairs.

Minutes later, all five members of the Halliwell-Wyatt family were settled at the table, and they were enjoying a quiet and demon-free breakfast.

It didn't take long for Wyatt to see something amiss between his parents, granted it took him longer than usual due to the fact that he had to drag himself away from his plate. They seemed to be communicating silently with each other; his mother's face showed frustration, as well as desperation, while his father just looked determined. They seemed to reach an agreement while he was watching though since they turned away from each other as one, and Wyatt found himself looking into his mother's pained gaze.

"Wyatt ... your father and I have been ... talking, and ... we've come to the conclusion ..." Piper began to speak hesitantly, almost afraid to say what she was saying, but the more she said, the firmer her voice became. "We've decided that since you turned twenty-two a few weeks ago, that maybe it's time to allow you to wield Excalibur. Maybe."

Wyatt had forgotten about the rest of his food by now, absentmindedly resting his knife and fork on his plate, all his attention on his parents. "Seriously?"

"Maybe."

"We think you're mature enough to handle it now son." Leo ignored his wife's cautionary word. "I mean you're out of University, you decided to start your own business." All in the kitchen noticed Piper's mouth get tighter with the mention of Wyatt's business venture, but none chose to bring it up. Wyatt's magic shop was still a sore subject for his mother who wanted all three of her children to have a normal a life as possible. As such, she was still annoyed with her son; and with her younger sister Phoebe, who financially supported her nephew to allow him to pursue his idea.

"Seriously!" Another voice entered the conversation. Prudence didn't seem to notice that she had unconsciously mimicked her older brother. "You are actually going to give him all that, all that power?" She sounded genuinely shocked at the realisation, and if anyone had looked her way at that moment, she would have appeared worried as well.

"Tonight. We'll give it to you tonight." Piper had after all _agreed_ with her husband regarding Wyatt and the sword; eventually, it had taken him the three weeks since their son's birthday to convince her. "After the family dinner though, I don't want all your cousins rummaging through the attic."

The conversation seemed to be over at that as Piper and Leo went back to their food and Chris replaced his empty plate with his papers. Wyatt orbed out of the room with an ecstatic smile on his face towards his shop.

Prudence's worried features once again remained unnoticed.

* * *

11:20

Wyatt's business hadn't been open long enough to enable many frequent visitors to the shop; as such he always spent many hours behind the counter with only a book or a magazine for company. At the moment he was a third of the way through _War and Peace_ and he had only started reading it at the beginning of the week.

It was nearing midday and only three shoppers had come in and actually bought his wares, another twelve had only browsed the shelves, although most of them had been women around his age and they seemed to look more at Wyatt than at the things that he had been selling.

So far today he had sold five different scented candles to a nervous looking teenager, who had accidentally dropped a condom on the floor when he reached into his wallet to get his money out; a small packet of mandrake roots to an old woman dressed in green, who looked more like a nymph when he turned towards the till and saw her from the corner of his eye. The third customer had been a woman in her early thirties looking smart in a blue suit; she had been after a love potion.

Of course it hadn't actually been a love potion, but a short term aphrodisiac; he wasn't stupid enough to actually hand out real potions to the customers, especially with something as unimportant as sprucing up a couple's love life. That's not to say he had no potions or magical items in the building, they just weren't on the shelves where anyone could buy them, seeing as that could be very dangerous.

He was not even mentioning personal gain.

A soft cough above him brought him out of his thoughts and up from his book. The man above him was ethereal in appearance, his skin was white, almost glowing in was so pale, his eyes were as dark as the hair on his head, a deep, dark black that seemed darker than the midnight sky and he was looking at Wyatt in a way that he couldn't interpret. Although that wasn't quite true, deep down in his subconscious Wyatt recognised the look that he gave him and his insides quivered for reasons he could not quite understand.

He realised belatedly that the man was speaking and snapped out of his trance as a knife hovered into his sight. It was a special kind of knife that only certain witches used, more of an athame really; he had decided to leave them out anyway so the customers could buy ingredients for their potions as well as knife that would be able to chop them any way the customer needed.

The bell above the door rang as another customer entered and Wyatt automatically turned to look. His sister was at the door as well as one of her friends that he could remember from somewhere but couldn't place where from. Realising that he still had a customer to serve, he turned back to the till to where the man had stood.

No one was there.

In fact if it wasn't for the knife stuck so deep into the wood of the desk that it was able to stand up straight on its own, he would have thought he had imagined him. He pondered the mystery for a few moments before his sister demanded his attention.

"So when can I start working _here_."

"You already have a job Prudence."

The woman her family called Prudence, snorted derisively as she moved further away from her brother and into the shelves, both Wyatt and her friend heard her reply to Wyatt's statement. "Working for mom at her restaurant is a _chore_ not a job."

The mystery of the disappearing man now forgotten, Wyatt turned to his sister's friend. She was a dark skinned woman about Prudence's age with brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail, it had a few stray curls that had managed to escape from the elastic band and the strands of hair flowed down in waves to rest against her cheeks. She looked quite pretty. Now that she was closer, he managed to recognise that she was a girl from Prudence's school, if he remembered correctly; she was the one that had moved into her class when she was thirteen, about three years ago, he had seen her in some of the photo's that Prudence had pinned to her mirror.

"Hey, it's Gwyneth right?"

"Gwen, I'd rather be called Gwen. That's not to say that you can't call me Gwyneth, you can if you want. Not that I'm assuming what you want, you're free to do as you like. Though-" Sweet, as well as pretty, he couldn't believe this girl could be friends with his snake of a sister. _They're like complete opposites_, he though amusedly, trying to picture the two of them getting along.

"How many times do I have to remind you, Gwen?" Prudence appeared between the two of them as if by magic, which was impossible really, as she didn't have the ability to orb like her brothers did. She had placed a delicate hand over her friend's mouth, cutting off her ramblings. "Don't forget to breathe."

"And you!" She turned to Wyatt, simultaneously pushing Gwen back towards the door and using her other hand to point in her eldest brother's face. "Don't forget the family dinner, we only have one once a month."

"How can I forget, Mom's been harping on about it for a week."

"You forgot last month, Wyatt." Reaching the door, she opened it to allow Gwen to go out first. "We were only passing by, I wanted a quick visit, we have to get the last supplies for next week." Seeing Wyatt's lack of understanding, she rolled her eyes. "The camping trip, Wyatt, remember? Honestly, if your head wasn't attached..." Leaving her sentence unfinished and fully exasperated by her brother's antics, she finally left the shop. "Six o'clock Wyatt, don't be late."

Sighing, Wyatt picked up his book and turned the page. _Next chapter_.

* * *

21:45

For the second time that day Wyatt wasn't late to the manor. With the time he had at his disposal due to being his own boss, he had been able to shower and change his clothes, and had been able to orb over to his childhood home half an hour early. Despite that he was the second to last to get there, followed shortly by Paige, who had been held up by the Elders.

The Family Dinner was its usual affair; it started at six sharp as it usually did once a month, reinforced by the matriarch of the family, Piper Halliwell, who wanted more than demons to be the reason the entire family gathered together. As such, the Charmed Ones and their spouses (as well as Victor when he could make it), spent an enjoyable evening catching up with what they had missed in each others lives. To the older ones of the next generation, it was not exactly a fun night, but Wyatt, Chris, Patience (Phoebe's oldest) and Prudence were old enough to understand that it was only once a month, and were also old enough to be able to go out afterwards to see friends and do the things that they missed earlier. It was the younger ones that had the problem with two and a half hours of delicious food and boring conversation.

By the time dessert came around, Phoebe's youngest, Penelope, was doodling on her napkin, making detailed and artistic patterns on the white fabric, while Payton, her middle daughter, was sneakily texting her friends with her phone unnoticed under the table. Pandora and Peony, Paige's twins were silently communicating with each other across the table, one or the other cracking up into laughter every once in a while as the other pulled a face at them that they could help but laugh at. Little Henry was either kicking his chair or interrupting his mother's conversation every five minutes due to the boredom he felt being the youngest one there.

All in all Wyatt found it a very entertaining family dinner.

It was now later in the night with dinner well and truly over and the extended family had long left to go back to their homes. Wyatt and his parents stood in the attic, as soon as dinner had ended, a car horn had sounded from outside for Prudence and she had left for her week long camping trip with her friend Gwen, while at the same time Chris had orbed out for a date with Bianca, because of this, they were the only three in the house.

Instead of standing in front of the Book of Shadows, the book that gave them and their ancestors knowledge and use of magic, as they had done many times before while looking for answers in the past, and would for many more times to come; the three of them surrounded a large stone that had been placed haphazardly at the centre of the room. In the stone, as the legend went, was the sword, Excalibur.

Piper was nervous again, her eyes flicking towards the sword, to her son, and back again. Her legs were fidgeting, unable to keep still, placing her weight on one leg and then on the other, as if she wanted to pull her son out of the room or destroy the sword with her powers and couldn't make her mind up on which idea to pursue. Leo, as observant as he was, didn't miss this and put his arm comfortingly around his wife's shoulders. He understood her worry; in fact a part of him shared it as he remembered the last time this sword had been in the manor.

Watching his parent Wyatt saw as they both nodded to him, indicating that he could continue. His hands were slightly sweaty as he grasped the handle with a firm hold, the leather he was gripping, as well as the metal that made the sharp blade, was warm to the touch; it felt so familiar to Wyatt, like a hand on the shoulder, affectionate and comforting. The feelings flowing through him changed when he pulled at the blade; he didn't notice the glow that enveloped the sword, and himself, the lights that shone down from the ceiling as an indication of powerful magic at work.

All Wyatt could feel was the rumbling that the sword seemed to be producing, like a predator that was on the hunt for prey. He could feel the entire essence of the magic that Excalibur was wrapped in; that he himself was wrapped in, it felt like a presence that was covering him in a hug, he felt warm and loved and complete, as though the magic had reached deep inside of him and ended up in his heart.

He did know one thing; as the light dispersed and the rumbles of the sword faded into apparent nothingness, as he held the sword before him looking, to his parent, like an avenging angel; holding a shield against all evil.

The magic inside Excalibur made him feel as he had found the other half of his soul.

* * *

"_I've told you you're an ass... I just didn't realize you were a royal one."_

...

"_I could take you apart with one blow."_

"_I could take you apart with less than that."_

...

"_You can't address me like that"_

"_Sorry... How long have you been training to be a prat my Lord?"_

...

"_I've never had a friend who could be such an ass."_

"_Nor I one who could be so stupid."_

...

"_There's something about you, Merlin. Can't quite put my finger on it."_

* * *

**~End Chapter One~**

**Retrospectively, I really shouldn't have said Saturday, that day is my least favourite of the week because no matter what I'm doing, when I go to bed the night before or when I get up, I am always cranky, and because I'm cranky I don't feel like doing anything.**

**To answer a few things before the questions even start the Charmed side of this story will follow on from the end of the series, seeing as I am a dedicated fan and have all the seasons on DVD even though I wasn't that fond of season eight; despite that, because it continues from the series, Phoebe will be married to Coop, and Paige to Henry.**

**I only have Season 1 of Merlin on DVD so it's likely to have more spoilers for that series than the other because I only watched Season 2 the one time when it came out first on BBC so it's been awhile since I saw it and I don't want to say something wrong and have all those fans who do have Season 2 to start after me with razor sharp pitchforks.**

**Chapter Two will be up as soon as possible, so wish be luck.**

**Rhodes18**


	3. Chapter 2

Quietus Décor

**By Rhodes18**

**I should probably apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I got immersed in the world of Youtube and so all I've been doing is watching videos; luckily, the new Merlin series brought me back to my story and I came to my senses.**

**Summary – Wyatt is 22 and his mother has at last deemed his worthy to wield Excalibur. Problems arise as a spell goes awry and another Wyatt pops into existence, although **_**he**_** calls himself Arthur.**

**I also apologise for the many references to do with Pokémon in this chapter. I blame my friend who convinced me to buy the cards and since then I've been crazy about my old childhood obsession; which is appalling seeing as I turn 19 in October. I do hope that you enjoy this chapter regardless of that fact.**

**On a side note, not that anyone is all that bothered; I found out that I share my birthday with Bradley James, the actor who plays the future King of Camelot, so look out for him at the end of the chapter. **

**I don't own Merlin or Charmed, I do own little voodoo dolls of the characters though so they do all that I want anyway. Mwhahahaha!**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Ditto! I Choose You!**

"Hey, what a par-tay! You rock girl!"

"She's right, tonight was like totally awesome, Chantal."

"Uh huh, we _so_ have to go out again soon, yeah?"

"Yeah Chantal, let's do the same thing next week, huh? Drinking our sorrows in any alcohol substance we can find, dancing the night away -"

"At least that's what we'll do; you can totally continue staring at Mitchell without him noticing."

Chantal was blushing heavily at that last comment and the boisterous laughter it produced from her friends, as she stopped in front of her apartment door. She quickly found her keys in her small leather bag she had brought with her. Opening her door, she finally turned back around to face her three friends that were still laughing at the suggestions they had made, but that she thankfully managed to ignore. They were a hell of a lot more drunk than she was, relying on each other just to stand up straight.

"I'll think about it; see you guys tomorrow, alright."

She closed her door to the yells and cheers of agreement from her drunken friends and dropped her bag on the table that was by the door in the small hall. While she hadn't drank quite as much as her friends, she'd had more than enough to be considered tipsy and she stumbled down the hall to the door on the left that led to the living area.

When she first moved to San Francisco and was searching for a place to live, it was this door that had attracted her to the apartment she now resided in. The door led a large, spacious open plan room which she much preferred to separate rooms for the kitchen, dining room and living room. The door was ornate and old fashioned; the complete opposite of the modern tone the rest of the apartment had, and yet she was always amazed by the fact that the rich brown oak blended perfectly with the walls and furniture.

That wasn't the only reason she loved the door though, the main reason was the coloured glass panes on the door, greens and reds, with a mixture of oranges and purples; in the morning it would fill the entire living area with a beautiful mixture of colours due to a window being directly opposite the door in the hall, it was always incredible to wake up to.

Chantal was exhausted as she shuffled to the sink, brushing a hand through her hair and massaging her aching head; her eyes struggled to stay open and her feet hurt from the heels she had worn when she had gone out and gratefully abandoned beside the table in the hall. Honestly she did love her friends, but she didn't love the fact that they _loved_ to party, she could never keep up and it was so tiring.

Sighing deeply she moved to the beige coloured sofa with a glass of cold water in her hand and sank into the soft cushions with a moan of appreciation. Taking a sip of the water she allowed herself to relax for the first time in eight hours now she was home. It was still dark outside, pitch black and silent as it always was in the early hours of the morning and Chantal lay her head down on the sofa. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she looked at the ticking clock that had been placed on the wall across from the sofa. She had just enough light from the street lamps outside to see that it had just gone five in the morning.

Groaning at the fact she had to get up and go to work in four hours she put her half-finished glass of water on the glass coffee table in front of her and moved the large candle that was on the table closer to her. Chantal placed a finger against the candle wick and smiled slightly when a strong but small light filled the room, letting her see the entire apartment as the shadows were pushed back to the corners of the room, crawling up the walls to rest on the ceiling.

All except the shadow, that stayed stubbornly in front of the sofa she was resting on. It took her awhile to notice it; she had finished her glass of water and was standing in order to move towards the kitchen to put it in the sink, when it caught her attention. Upon noticing it, it began to move, as if sensing her stare, crawling out of the wall where it solidified beside her. Dropping the glass in shock, Chantal's heart pounded in her ribcage in fear as she realised what it was that she was looking at. A demon.

Ignoring the shards of glass at her feet and not allowing herself to freak out further at the fact that a demon was in her home; Chantal jumped up and onto the leg of the sofa and used it to jump into the air. Spinning in mid-air, she used her left leg to slam into the demon's head. Landing back on the sofa, she took a moment to be disappointed when the demon barely reacted, when it reached out for her, however, she jumped again, this time flipping over the demon's head to land lightly on her coffee table.

Without pausing she turned to face the demon again and shot out a fist to try and hit the demon before it recovered. A second before the hit would have landed, a hand grabbed Chantal's wrist in a strong grip; the demon's other hand went for her throat and lifted her up so her feet had nothing but air beneath them; she hung there for a second before the demon slammed her entire body into the table. She felt the glass give way and shatter, forcing her into the ground; the lit candle rolled to the floor away from her, the sudden darkness engulfed them and Chantal's hazy mind thought of an idea.

Before the demon could finish choking her, she brought her power into play. The flame she had used to light the candle was nothing compared to the flame she used now. As soon as her hands connected to the demon's chest, its entire body was engulfed in flames, until only a black charred form remained. She was about to despair; it was still there, still alive, still with its hand around her throat, when the figure above her began to waver. At first she thought it was the lack of air getting to her, but when the hand choking her which had before been very solid, suddenly pooled around her throat like liquid and she realised something was happening.

Breathing deeply to return air back to her lungs she quickly rolled out from underneath it. Panting, she watched, stunned as the demon collapsed into a black, writhing mass and slipped in between the crack of the floor boards, disappearing down below.

Chantal gasped from fear, shock and pain as the adrenaline left her. Suddenly her beloved apartment didn't feel as beloved, as safer as it did before. She stared at the floor for a second more, before running for the door, running into the night.

_

* * *

_

_"I need to talk to you."_

_"You still haven't got it yet, have you? I decide when we need to talk."_

_"Not today."_

_"I sometimes wonder if you know who I am."_

_"Oh, I know who you are."_

_"Good."_

_"You're a prat. And a royal one."_

_"Are you ever going to change, Merlin?"_

_"No, you'd get bored. Promise me this, if you get another servant, don't get a bootlicker."_

_"If this is you trying to leave your job..."_

_"No. I'm happy to be your servant, till the day I die."_

_"Sometimes I think I know you Merlin. Other times..."_

_"Well I know you. And you're a great warrior. One day you'll be a great King."_

_"That's very kind of you."_

_"But you must learn to listen as well as you fight."_

_"Any more pointers?"_

_"No. That's it. Just... don't be a prat."_

* * *

Wyatt opened his eyes and instead of castles, kings and dragons; all he could see was a white ceiling and a clock blinking green numbers at him. He had forgotten to close his curtains again and because it was nearing six he could see the sky full of pink and orange as the sun slowly began to rise.

Wyatt winced as the pale light hit his eyes, "Urgh, _Mer_lin, you idiot." He moaned in irritation; then groaned when he realised what he had said. Mumbling curses under his breath, he crawled out of bed in order to dress for the day.

His dreams had been changing, he was living memories that weren't his and he had worked out that it was Excalibur's fault that his dreams were changing. He had realised on the third day after pulling out the sword that he was dreaming of people and places and events he had never lived but still felt intricately familiar. It was because he had touched the sword that he was seeing things he had never seen before in his dreams; and it was getting definitely stronger. Yesterday he had remembered a conversation he had never spoken and heard voices of people he didn't know echoing throughout his head, while awake, and knew it was time to be getting worried.

After pulling on the first shirt he found, he moved out into the sitting room and towards the door that led to the ground floor; not hungry, Wyatt bypassed the kitchen and headed downstairs to the darkened shop area. It was here he could relax and forget his troubles, especially in the quiet and calming early hours of the morning. He loved the smell of the scented candles mixing with the different herbs, filling the room with an indescribable scent; he also enjoyed the sound of the wind chimes and charms blowing slowly in the breeze.

Pounding at the door shattered the tranquillity that had enveloped the shop and Wyatt himself. Moving towards the door with a frown on his face, Wyatt hesitantly addressed the person on the other side. "Um, I'm sorry, we're closed. You're welcome to come back in about three hours; we open at nine.

The pounding, which had stopped upon the sound of his voice, started again along with a female voice screaming to be let in. "Please, please, I need help. It was trying to kill me! This is a magic shop and I need magical help. Please let me in, please help me, please."

Hearing the desperate in her voice, Wyatt could do nothing but to let her in; she was obviously panicked, and her voice had grown gradually louder that would start to complain about the noise. But more than that, it sounded like she was in the kind of trouble his family specialised in stopping.

On the other side of the door was a woman who had obviously been running for quite some time. He could tell her hair had been up in a bun at first, but in her panicked state more hair had gathered about her shoulders than in the bun above her head. She had obviously been running for a while; sweat gathered on her brow and tears ran down her cheeks, ruining the small amount of makeup she had put on that night.

She had on a pale yellow halter neck dress that reached down to her knees but the fabric had been ripped numerous times and where some of the holes appeared Wyatt could see blood running down her body, he could see in numerous rips what looked like to a be shiny pieces of glass reflecting in the morning light.

Her eyes were wide and staring at him pleadingly; he could see pain also held in that gaze. Gently leading her inside, he spoke quietly and as comfortably as he could that she was now safe. Seeing her calm down with his actions, Wyatt asked her for her name.

"Chantal. My name's Chantal, and there was this demon in my apartment…"

* * *

A few hours later; the two oldest Charmed Ones were in the attic with the addition of Leo and Wyatt searching through the Book of Shadows for the demon in question. They had left Chantal down in the living room to rest after her ordeal as they had gotten all the information they were likely to get from the young woman.

"Okay, based on the description Chantal gave us, the most likely suspect is the Cala-, Calgo-, Claglesha-. Oh god, how do you pronounce it?" Phoebe looked down on the open page, a frown of concentration marring her features as she tried to sound out the word before her.

"Caglalacalgoemesh Demon."

"Right, what Leo said. The, er, demon is said to be the ultimate master of camouflage. It can transform into any evil being as long as it has seen one before and in the transformed state can use any abilities or powers said demon has. When not transformed the demon becomes a black liquid mass; however it doesn't stay that way long as while in an untransformed state has no abilities but the power to transform." Phoebe finished reading the description and turned to the others. "So, basically, it's like Ditto." She saw the looks she was getting from Leo, Piper and Wyatt and smiled weakly. "You know, from Pokémon."

Piper rolled her eyes at her sister and leaned over her shoulder to read the page also. "It doesn't say anything about how to vanquish one; but it looks like a basic Power of Three spell will be able to do the job."

"So all you need to do is call Paige and vanquish the demon." Leo agreed.

"PAIGE!" There was no point in Piper and Phoebe calling their sister as before they had even finished yelling, Paige had already finished orbing into the attic.

"Sorry I took so long," Paige apologised. "But the Elders are worried."

"When aren't they?" Piper asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes.

Leo was used to his wife's dislike of the Elders, but he saw the concern in Paige's eyes and knew at least for this one time, the worries might not be unfounded. "What happened?"

"An Elder that went missing last week was found today."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Phoebe piped in.

"Unfortunately he was found dead. His heart had been ripped out." Paige didn't have to tell the others how worried she was about the new development; all four heard the worry in her voice.

"I don't mean to be rude." Piper said mildly, interrupting her husband and sisters' conversation before it could continue. "Because the fact is, however much I dislike them, I do realise that one of the Elders ending up murdered _is_ a bad thing. But do they know what demon killed him?" Paige shook her head. "Any clues on who, or what, could have done it?" Another shake and Piper nodded her head in decision. "Then I suggest we go for the demon that we do know for the moment and go after the unknown demon when we have more evidence."

Wyatt agreed with his mother. "I think we should ask Chris to come with us; we need more than just us four."

"What? No, he has college. My son can go hunting demons down in the Underworld as much as he likes when he's finished for the day, not before."

"I think Wyatt's right, Piper. " Paige said cautiously from where she was standing near the Book of Shadows; reading up on the demon. "I mean, it depends what demon it'll turn into; we can defeat most demons that we come across, especially with Wyatt backing us up, but what if it's met Barbas or Zankou? We need all the power that we can get."

Phoebe hummed in agreement, "Should we ask Prudence to come with us as well?"

"No."

"Piper, listen to me would you." Phoebe said, huffing in annoyance of her older sister. "We could use her Sight; she's very, _very_ good at seeing whatever she wants to see, much better than me. I'd ask Patience to come with us, but Enola has her staying in Magic School all week guiding some of the younger students through their Spirit Quests." Everyone in the Attic could hear the pride she felt about that.

_"Listen to me!"_

_"You know me, Merlin, I never listen"_

Wyatt shook his head, ignoring the voices in his mind; the dreams following him into the waking world.

"I realise her sight would be useful," Piper argued. "But you _know_ she doesn't have the ability to cast spells nor does she have any other active powers. If the demon focused on her, she'd get hurt."

Phoebe sighed and nodded her head in acceptance; Paige closed the Book and moved towards her family, placing a hand on her middle sister's shoulder. Wyatt did the same with his mother. Phoebe perked up almost instantly, throwing a mischievous look at her older sister and nephew as Leo called for Chris. Phoebe was grinning as the five of them orbed out for the Underworld, leaving Leo with her final parting words.

"Come on then, let's catch ourselves a Ditto!"

* * *

It hadn't taken long for them to track down the demon, _Ditto_, seeing as, over the years the Charmed Ones and their family had become the ultimate nightmare for all demons. Not even the demon hermits who didn't socialise with any other demons or the ones who spent most of their time above ground could recognise any member of the Halliwell family on face alone. All it had taken to convince the first demons they met to tell them _Ditto__'s_ location was for Piper to use her powers on one demon, blowing up before he could even scream in pain; leaving the rest cowering in fear that they would be next.

The cave they had been told was the home of the demon looked like every other cave that was in the Underworld, although it was sparser than others they had been in as most demons kept belongings.

As soon as they had finished orbing, energy balls were soaring towards them and all five of them automatically dove into different directions; Phoebe and Paige took shelter behind a large stone slab in the middle of the room that might have been used as a table. Wyatt and Piper moved towards the side of the room, closer to the walls, Wyatt's shield blocking the energy balls flung their way.

Chris didn't move from his position, casting his arm out before him; an energy ball about to hit his body stopped only a few inches away, it then turned in an arc and travelled quickly in the direction it came from as he telekinetically shoved it back towards the demon. A grunt sounded from the shadows, indicating the ball had hit its intended target and Chris ran to where his aunts were for shelter as the enraged demon emerged from the dark.

None of them got the chance to get a good look at the demon _Ditto_ had turned into, the only thing they saw were deep blood red eyes as well as smoke rising from charred flesh that used to be its chest before the form seemed to ripple. The features blurred until it looked like a black shapeless form in the middle of the cave. It stood there like that for no more than a second or two before it began to grow, spreading upwards until it almost reached the ceiling of the cave, features appeared on it again.

Hooves appeared instead of feet, stomping angrily on the ground, they were attached to thick, muscled legs, almost as large as thick tree trunks. His arms were almost as thick, they were strong and vicious looking, with claws instead of fingers at the end of each arm. His head and chest were covered in fur and he had two huge horns on his head. Eyes that had been blood red only a moment ago glinted yellow in what little light there was. Throwing his head back, the roar he produced was ferocious enough to loosen the rocks that were hung above their heads on the roof of the cave, before he lowered his head, sharp pointed horns aimed at the three behind the stone slab and with another, shorter growl, charged at them.

Piper's breath caught in her throat as she watched her son and sisters move from their position; splitting up to go different ways. "A Minotaur," she said so softly, Wyatt strained to hear her. The Minotaur had gained too much momentum by the time he realised that his targets had moved and rushed by the place the three had stood, only to slam hard into the table, cracking it into pieces. The vibrations that this action caused sent most of the rocks above them tumbling to the ground.

Phoebe fell to the floor unconscious, bleeding from a cut on her forehead as a rock glanced off the wall near her and bits of debris rained down. A particularly large rock directly hit Wyatt's shield and he was forced to drop it due to the pressure it had caused. Without missing a beat, Piper flicked her hands at the beast that was shaking its large head to remove the confusion he had self-inflicted, and ran to her fallen sister.

The Minotaur did not blow up, but the explosion of the eldest Charmed Ones power flung it across to the other side of the table, slamming it into the ground. Paige and Chris allowed it no time to recover, using their powers, they removed two of the sharp rocks that still hung on the ceiling and sent the deadly stones towards their enemy with startling precision.

The Minotaur roared in pain; one rock hitting it on the left shoulder, the other slamming into its stomach, both with great force, before the demon blurred again, and the original form of _Ditto_ appeared.

Using this brief respite to their advantage, Paige ran to her sisters and placed her hand above the cut on Phoebe's head; her hand began to glow with an inner light as her healing powers awakened and both sisters watched as blood that had begun to run down the left side of Phoebe's face seeped back into her body and the horrid looking cut sealed itself up.

As the glow faded from Paige's hand, she and Piper helped their disorientated sister to her feet and watched as_ Ditto_ finished transforming.

The previous form had been a large and angry beast; this new one was delicate, calm and breathtakingly beautiful, this form, although obviously an evil being, due to the nature of _Ditto's_ powers, looked like an ordinary woman, albeit more pretty than most.

"_I expected so much more."_

"_Who are you?"_

Deep blue eyes stared at Wyatt and he found himself entranced by the impossibly familiar face; brown hair cascaded down across her shoulders, twisted with braids, as well as beads of brown and blacks; ribbons of deep red was also tied in her hair and the ends dangled down and merged with the red dress she was wearing.

Wyatt couldn't move even if he had tried; staring back at the woman as if she was the key to unlocking the answer to a puzzle that haunted him for years. He was unaware either of his mother screaming at him as the woman approached him or of Chris as he rushed forward to protect his older brother.

"_The last face you'll ever see. It seems we have a visitor."_

Once again the flashes came to Wyatt, faster and more insistent then even his dreams, he could feel himself drowning in memories and feelings that weren't his own. The woman turned away from him and to his brother, who she felt was the bigger threat; blue eyes flashed gold and then deepened to black, an indication of her evil.

A voice of pure velvet enveloped the cave as the woman spoke words in a foreign language none of them understood and Chris screamed as an arrow that had suddenly appeared into the air shot forward to pierce his shoulder, too quick for him to do anything about. Pain flashed on his face as he recognised the sudden weakness that came upon him darklighter poison. He crashed to the floor, he suddenly felt weak and numb and his legs were unable to hold his weight.

Piper screamed for Chris, standing up to rush over to him for fear of his life; she completely forgot about the demon and only her sisters holding her back stopped her from doing just that and putting herself in danger.

"CHRIS!" Piper screamed for her younger son, as well as her elder child who had not moved from his position, since the demon attacked. "WYATT, help him!"

"Piper, stop." Paige had difficulty keeping her older sister there with them, resorting to grabbing her hand to try and keep her still. "Phoebe the spell!"

Phoebe nodded and dove into her jean's pocket for the paper she had written the spell on that she had found from the Book. "Here." She showed it to her sisters.

"_Powers of light,_

_Magic of right,_

_Cast this blight_

_Into forever's night!"_

The demon's shape ripped for the final time. It turned back into the black blob that was known to them as _Ditto_; but unlike the liquid like form it had been before, the form was instead hardening, cracks appearing along the black surface, and from inside a white light shone brightly from within.

This seemed to hurt the demon, as a piercing screech erupted from it, as _Ditto's_ body grew more firm and rigid as the spell coursed through it. With a clichéd final scream that was louder than the other ones it had cried, more like a howl of denial, the demon exploded outwards, covering the Charmed Ones with the black skin that had been the demon.

With a cry of disgust, Piper moved towards Chris, who still lay in the ground, barely conscious from the pain the arrow caused, grabbing it with one hand, Piper placed the other on his shoulder to brace the both of them before yanking the arrow out. Chris arched in pain and screamed as the arrow tore out his flash. Paige moved forwards to once again to heal another of her family while Phoebe tried in vain to wipe the blackness of her face despite the fact her hands were just as drenched.

Wyatt stood apart from them; staring silently at the spot the demon had been standing; he felt like crying and knew that he could no longer ignore the whispers in his mind.

"_Very good, but he won't be the last. I'll let his friends finish you off, Arthur Pendragon. It's not your destiny to die at my hand."_

* * *

Wyatt was silent as he watched his father help Chris up the stairs; their progress was slow as Chris was still shaky at best, the poison remaining faintly in his veins even though the wounds were long gone.

He could hear his mother and her sisters talking in the kitchen, their voices hushed and Wyatt wouldn't have been able to hear the words even if he had tried to listen in; he had only felt numb since snapping out of his trance, if he actually had. All he could understand was that this was his fault; it was because of him that Chris had gotten hurt.

Wyatt's eyes hardened in determination, he wanted to make sure that he could never hurt anyone else again because of the memories that weren't his. He took one more look at the kitchen where the voices of the Charmed Ones had quieted even further, and then to the living room where he could make out the form of Chantal sleeping on the sofa. He could still hear his father moving about on the floor above him and so orbed past that level completely. He rematerialized in the quiet attic.

Flicking through the Book for a few minutes and instead moved towards one of the shelves that held the notebooks just for occasions like this. While not an expert spell caster like some of his relatives; he was not the worst in his family. That honour went to Payton; the twelve year old had vanquished her first demon about a month after her birthday and her magic had interpreted 'blow up' demon as said demon floating on the ceiling for ten minutes as he grew larger and larger until it exploded. Lighting a candle, he took a few minutes to think of what he wanted the spell to do and jotted down a few lines to make a spell.

Tearing out the page and rolling it up, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes; holding the paper above the flame, he felt it catch on fire and recited the four lines that he had quickly written.

"_I hurt my brother, I need to pay,_

_So make these flashes go away,_

_Please take these memories set me free,_

_On the magic of Excalibur, so mote it be."_

Even with his eyes closed he could see the lights swirling before him. Taking a few seconds to brace himself he opened his eyes and met another pair of striking blue eyes glaring at him.

Before him stood a knight. _The spell wasn't supposed to work like this…_

* * *

**~End Chapter Two~**

**It's done, it's finally done! This chapter felt never-ending, it took ages to do. I finished writing it a week ago and it felt way to rushed so I had to add more and more and now it's about 2000 words longer than the last.**

**Anyway, mini rant over; just a quick note about this chapter, the vanquishing spell is not mine; it's from Season 3's episode Bride and Gloom (Charmed). The spell at the end unfortunately is mine; as you can tell I'm awful at poetry.**

**Did everyone enjoy the first two episodes of the new Merlin series? It was a great start for the brand new series. Hopefully the new series will inspire me to finish chapter 3 as quickly as possible.**

**Rhodes18**


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